


Love at First Bite

by JoLau



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Amity and Gus' potential friendship is much too overlooked, Cultural Differences, F/F, Gus is a good lad! Appreciate him, Lesbian Disaster Amity Blight, Luz Noceda being a very good kind sweet girlfriend, Not Beta Read, teenagers turn to magazines for help, this is silly and fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27354418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoLau/pseuds/JoLau
Summary: "Humans, for a reason that I have yet to discover, segregate their literature by gender. Especially the magazines. Interestingly, while the editions meant for the masculine-inclined include advice for furthering muscle growth and ego-boosting literature, the volumes supposedly meant for girls deal mostly in gossip, fad diets, and…""And…?" Amity peers at him with anticipation.Gus opens the magazine, the pages fluttering as he flips to the middle. "Romantic advice."ORAmity has a problem, and Gus, with his vast knowledge of humans, is the only one who can help her.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Gus Porter, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 18
Kudos: 319





	Love at First Bite

**Author's Note:**

> A 14 year old asks a 12 year old for relationship advice. What could possibly go wrong?
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts on the piece, dear reader. I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Translations for the Spanish terms used are in the footnotes.

"Augustus, I know we're not much more than acquaintances, but you're the only person that doesn't creep me out who knows… _things_ … and I really, _really_ , **_really_ ** need your help."

Augustus Porter didn't think he would ever find himself in a situation such as this: trapped between a wall and one of the most (in his- and 99% of the Hexside student body's- opinion) intimidating individuals to ever walk Hexside's unhallowed halls; but for reasons _not_ having to do with ripping his limbs off. And despite the look of vulnerable desperation on his captor's face, Gus can't seem to calm his jackhammering heart. He swallows delicately, wishing to become one with the wall at his back.

"Oh yeh-yeah? Wh-what's up, A-A-Amity?" His tongue feels way too big for his mouth; Gus tries his very best to seem casual, but it's hard when _the_ Amity Blight is casting her shadow over his humble being, her piercing golden gaze cutting right through him. _Really_ doesn't help that she has him cornered- literally. They're standing at the end of a dead-end hallway and Amity's blocking him in between two walls with her arm. Gus knows he's short enough to simply duck under the outstretched limb and run, but he _also_ knows that Amity played grudgeby for years, and he _really does not_ want to experience a full-body tackle courtesy of someone twice his size and ten times as vicious. 

Amity peers down at her captive audience. She actually tilts her head to look at him; weird, because Gus is way more used to the Blight looking at people down her (usually) upturned nose. Her eyes (still piercing) are suspiciously soft. "It's… about Luz," one of her fangs (adult fangs! Envy strikes Gus to his core) dimples her bitten lower lip. "We became official two weeks ago, and it's been wonderful, but…"

At the mention of his friend, Gus feels some strength return to his quavering spine. He stops trying to disappear into the wall, but stays against it, because he's afraid of his knees turning to jelly as he says: "do you have a problem with Luz?" Gus prompts- or rather, provocates- with no small amount of bravery.

Instead of pummelling him into the drywall like he'd expected, Amity blanches from his assumption, eyebrows retreating up to her bicolour hairline. "No, no problem!" She squeaks ( _weird_ ) and holds her hands up in front of her chest as if _she_ has some reason to be afraid of _Gus_ . "There's absolutely no problem! Luz is great! Splendid! Perfect, even!" Despite the high praises, Amity sighs and steps a couple paces away from Gus in what looks to be contemplation. She folds an arm across her chest, and with the hand attached to the other, holds her chin. "She's so sweet and affectionate, and I love that about her. I want to be warm like her… but the issue is I have a distinct lack of knowledge in regards to, w-well, human d-dating protocol. I know everything there is to know about courting someone of our species thanks to etiquette classes at home, but when it comes to Luz, I just come up blank!" Amity's hands rise into her hair. She grips her minty-green locks with frustration. "Obviously when she takes my hand, I'm supposed to hold it. And when she hugs me, I hug her back. That's easy. But when she k-kisses my cheek," her pale face reddens, and Gus isn't sure if it's mental anguish or the aforementioned cheek kissies that are causing that flush, "what am I supposed to _do_ ?! Kissing's obviously not as intimate for humans, but I'm not ready to k-k-k-ki… _kiss_ …" 

Gus steps fully away from the wall. He could make a break for it now while the older girl is in the middle of her dilemma, but she came to him for help, and Gus of a noble sort, and Amity looks like she's about to either faint or pop a blood vessel. "How about you take a second to catch your breath and we roll this conversation back a bit?" He suggests gently as his hand hovers by Amity's arm; he wants to pat it in an attempt to comfort her, but Gus isn't sure that Amity won't respond by biting his fingers off. Amity's nostrils flare, chest expanding with a deep breath. 

She lets that breath out slowly the same way it came in. "Right. Right, sorry. I got ahead of myself." Gus gives Amity a moment to collect herself. 

He doesn't feel nearly as nervous as before, partly because he's no longer trapped by an imposing peer, partly because it's clear to him now that Amity's intentions are harmless. Gus supposes it's not _totally_ Amity's fault that she has the same imposing presence as a slitherbeast, given her family name. He's gotten hints regarding what it's like to be a Blight just from osmosis of school gossip. Edric and Emira (not as frightening as their little sister, surprisingly, but that's probably because Gus never had to watch them throttle his friend) have made a few offhand, scathing comments in his company, too, about their home life. 

As someone who skipped ahead two grades, Gus sympathizes with Amity, the back-bowing weight of high expectations. He struggles with the marrow-deep _need_ to get perfect marks lest his teachers tsk and tut and wave him off for his young age. It's a lot of stress to deal with. Gus is no stranger to sleepless nights, days mired with anxiety while awaiting the final mark on that grade-altering assignment; the sensation of his heart plummeting into his stomach when he gets anything less than an 'A'. The dread of returning home with an imperfect score; the strained sigh of a parent when they see that mark. 

(That was part of the reason why his parents split. His dad really hated arguing with his mom about Gus' grades. Gus misses his mom, but he doesn't miss how she would look at him with subdued disappointment whenever she saw a number lower than 90 on his report card, or how she would say 'I know you can do better than this, Augustus'. Now he only has his dad, but his dad always, _always_ tells Gus that he's proud, no matter what his report card says. His dad says, 'it's okay to fail, baby, we all fail. It's a part of life, and without failure, we wouldn't know what it's like to succeed'. Gus believes his dad more and more every time.)

Amity clears her throat. Oh. His minute of introspection is up. He blinks his wide, dark eyes at her, and Amity looks down at him with a nervous wrinkle between her eyebrows. "So, about what I said…"

"Right, right." Gus gives his head a tiny shake. "You want some insight on human dating rituals, is that right?" At her nod, his ears perk up with excitement. Humans, his favourite subject! Gus grins at her, anxiety cast aside. He motions for her to follow him.

Gus leads Amity to the H.A.S club room. He's freshly reinstated as a member, though Mattholomew is still president; Gus has learned multiple lessons in patience and humility now he's not president of the Human Appreciation Society, especially since the number of members has grown a fair margin since Luz's enrollment at Hexside. 

They stand before the door. Gus plunges a hand into the pocket of his tunic to retrieve his keyring. It jingles as he unlocks the door. He grabs the handle, twisting it, and opens the door with a bow that doubles him over. "Please, Miss Blight, step into my office." 

There's a tiny huff of laughter from Amity. Her boots tap on the polished floor as she strides inside of the empty classroom. Gus follows her in, closes the door, and locks it again. He has a feeling that this conversation needs to be private. 

Amity peers around the room with idle interest as Gus skips to the big desk in front of the blackboard. His keys chatter again when he unlocks the big, bottom drawer on the right side of the desk; he pulls it open smoothly and begins to rifle through the partitioned documents inside, pursing his lips. Everything is still organized alphabetically, but it looks like ol' Matty decided to forego Gus' categorization system. A tiny flare of indignation alights between Gus' eyes, but it fizzles out when he finds what he was looking for. He withdraws the precious document, placing it gingerly on the desktop. 

The counterpart to Teen Boss magazine: a near-mint condition edition of Girl Boss, its paper cover still shiny. Amity stands on the other side of the desk, looking at the booklet curiously. 

"Humans, for a reason that I have yet to discover, segregate their literature by gender. _Especially_ the magazines. Interestingly, while the editions meant for the masculine-inclined include advice for furthering muscle growth and ego-boosting literature, the volumes supposedly meant for girls deal mostly in gossip, fad diets, and…"

"And…?" Amity peers at him with anticipation.

Gus opens the magazine, the pages fluttering as he flips to the middle. " _Romantic advice._ " He says with emphasis, turning the magazine so it's right side up for Amity. He pushes the pages toward her, gesturing for her to read. 

Gus appreciates how Amity touches the human paraphernalia with utmost respect. As she scans the pages, she turns them with a delicate touch, never leaving her hands on the glossy paper for longer than necessary. Her ear flicks as she reads, a look of utmost concentration on her face. Her pinkening face- the older student looks up at Gus with pinched lips and twitchy ears.

"Augustus," rasps Amity, "most of what this talks about is k-ki-kissing." 

"You can call me Gus," he says first. Then he says, "and yeah, I know. _But._ If we stop thinking like witches for a second, and think like _humans_ instead, it's easier to compare their body language to ours. Humans are more amorous outright," Amity hums, her tone fond, "but hugging and holding hands is normal for partners in the Boiling Isles, too. So if we think like humans for a bit, and translate their affections to ours…"

Amity is quiet for a moment. Several moments. She takes that contemplative pose again, frowning in thought, rereading the magazine pages. Her broad shoulders hunch as she thinks harder and harder and then… they relax, and the look of tentative understanding on her face makes Gus feel like he's floating. "Of course…" the young Blight murmurs, the wrinkles on her face relaxing. "Humans have delicate skin, of _course_ they would kiss instead!" One wide hand thumps into the other as a fist. Amity's eyes are bright for all of three seconds before she second-guesses herself. "That said, I'm not ready for that yet… do you think she'll mind?" 

Gus is quick to assure her with a grin. "I don't think Luz would mind some Boiling Isles style courtship at all! She loves how different things are here compared to the human realm. I reckon if you returned her cheek kisses with some ol' witchy affection, she'd swoon and fall right into your waiting arms."

"She _does_ talk about how interesting everything is here…" Amity nods, mostly to herself. She closes the magazine, sliding it back to Gus. Her cheekbones are pleasantly pink and she looks quite satisfied. Gus feels his posture straighten when she gazes at him appreciatively. "Thank you, Gus, I mean it. I owe you big time. If you need anything, please, don't hesitate to ask." 

"Anything, huh?" He drawls, rubbing his chin contemplatively for affect. Amity gives a huff of mirth. Gus puts the human magazine carefully away. "Weeell, there is a pretty nice vellum journal at the stationary store by the library I've had my eye on…"

"Consider it yours." Amity follows him to the door. "And, Gus?"

"Yeah?" His fingers are about to flick the lock open when her longer, stronger set enclose around his hand. Her grip is firm and warm. A lump of icy fear lodges itself in his throat as her presence looms behind him. He turns to look up at the older witchling, ears pinned to his skull. 

Amity stares down at him with a decidedly dangerous look in her eye. "Not a word of this to my siblings." The girl's voice lowers an octave threateningly. "Not. One. Word." 

"Yes!" Gus squeaks. "I mean, no! Not. Nope. My lips are sealed! They'll never know. Promise!"

Amity's grip gentles over his hand. She looks apologetic, but also pleased with his response. "Thank you." She breathes a sigh of relief and steps away. Gus sighs too, though it's quite a lot more like a wheeze.

Amity rubs the back of her head. "...wanna meet up after school? We can go to the stationary store and I'll buy that journal for you." 

Abject terror replaced by youthful excitement, Gus bounces on the balls of his feet. "Yeah!"

Amity gets him that vellum journal, and a new fountain pen to match. He's beaming at her on their way out of the store; she grins back, a bit shy, a lot grateful. 

-

The next morning, Gus stands with Willow and Luz out front as they await the first bell of the school day. The two witchlings are watching Luz as she fiddles with a trinket, happy to show it to her friends. It's a cube composed of smaller cubes, and Luz can transform it into several different shapes. It clicks silently as the human stretches it into a long rectangle, before folding it over on itself.

"There's a visual presentation in my healing track class today," supplies Luz, "so I want to be _extra focused._ Eda bought this for me yesterday just for the occasion."

They give her an endeared smile. Luz is a very bright student, and she's genuinely interested in _everything_ there is to learn at Hexside. As long as there's something for her to dispense her extra energy into, she's every teacher's dream; attentive and curious, eager to ask questions about anything and everything she can, and quick to offer assistance when it's needed. She's been heckled for being a teacher's pet, but it's pretty obvious the bullies are envious of Luz and her positive influence on those around her.

Speaking of Luz being a positive influence…

"Hey, you three. Good morning."

"Good morning, Amity," Willow replies with a friendly grin.

"Hiya!" Gus chirps.

"Amity!" Luz skips over to the taller girl, wrapping her lanky arms around Amity's broad shoulders and smushing their temples together. Amity chuckles quietly, the arm not holding her book wrapped around Luz's back. "Good morning, _pollito._ Mwah!" Luz plants a big ol' smacker on Amity's cheek. Amity flushes happily; behind Luz, Gus gives Amity an encouraging thumbs-up, mouthing the words "you got this" with emphasis. Amity gives him an almost imperceptible nod, but he knows she heard his silent cheer by the confidence steeling her eyes. Willow glances between them quizzically. 

Amity squeezes Luz's waist. "Hey, cutie," Amity purrs, and leans in to reciprocate Luz's affections. Luz giggles.

Then Luz squawks.

The sharp noise makes heads turn, though most turn away when they see that it's just the resident enemies-to-lovers duo. 

Luz, rubbing her cheek, one arm still around Amity's shoulders, whines: "Amity, why'd you _bite_ me?"

"S-sorry! Too hard?" Amity flusters, pulling Luz's spindly fingers away to check her girlfriend's skin. "I tried to be careful, I'm _so_ sorry-"

"It didn't hurt, don't worry. But my question stands. Why did you bite me?"

Amity drops Luz's hand, clutching her book to her chest, expression remorseful. "You've been so sweet and affectionate. Every morning for the past week, you've kissed me on the cheek. It shocked me at first, but I realized that it must be a human thing, so from then on I found it so cute and so _you_ … but then I started freaking out because what if you expected me to reciprocate? Kissing is a lot more intimate here on the Isles, and I- I'm not- I don't think I could-" 

Luz watches Amity as she stammers, rich ochre eyes darting all over Amity's face. "Oooh…" realization dawns on Luz. "Okay, I see. Cultural differences, huh?" Amity mutely nods her head. Her ear flicks at Luz's kind laugh. "This world continues to surprise me."

"I'm sorry," Amity repeats, mortified. Luz murmurs something too soft for Gus or Willow to hear, but Amity's arm retakes its place coiled about Luz's waist, so it must've been something good. "I won't- it won't happen again. I'm so sorry, Luz."

"Hey, no, no," Luz croons, brushing Amity's pale cheekbones with her dark thumbs, "it didn't hurt at all, just surprised me. Besides, if I'm dating the cutest witch on the Boiling Isles, I should be open to and get used to her love language, right?" Under Luz's warm gaze, Amity's ears quirk upwards, trembling faintly at their tips. 

"You don't mind?"

"Heck no, girl! In fact, how about we try that again?" Luz grins, and presents her unbitten cheek to Amity. "Make me match, _loba._ I'm not going to any of my classes until these cheeks are stinging in equal measure!"

Willow decides that with the crisis resolved, it's time for her and Gus to go. "We'll see you guys later. Try to not be late," she teases, tugging Gus along by the hand.

Gus turns around just in time to see Amity clasp her teeth on Luz's cheek in an affectionate nip. The Blight makes eye contact with him. While Luz giggles, Amity gives Gus a thumbs-up behind her girlfriend's back. 

Gus didn't ever think he would find himself in a situation like this: striding down the hall to Illusions with an extra spring in his step, the warm buzz of something going so _right_ in his chest, all because he helped _the_ Amity Blight with her relationship. He hugs his brand-new vellum journal snug against his chest. 

What a great start to his day. 

**Author's Note:**

> A witch never kisses after the first date... but she does bite.
> 
> Why, you ask? Because I think it's cute. 
> 
> Translations for the nicknames Luz uses:
> 
> Pollito: "While it translates literally to “small chicken,” it can be used in a variety of ways between Spanish cultures. It is most along the lines of meaning cute, adorable or attractive." I found this one especially fitting for Amity. Her hairdo is cute and fluffy like a chicken butt.
> 
> Loba: "Literally means wolf, and usually refers to a person who is sly." Luz wasn't referring to Amity as sly here. She likened Amity to a wolf, because like a wolf, she expressed her affection with a gentle bite.
> 
> I sourced both from the fluentu.com blog post "40 Spanish Nicknames to Express Affection for Friends, Family, Lovers, and Strangers." 
> 
> I don't speak Spanish whatsoever, so if there is an error, please do not hesitate to let me know so I can make changes if they're necessary.


End file.
